Wow. It's been a long time since I've posted here. Why?
Partially because of what you see above you. Yes, that is Lake Placid in New York. It was a beautiful week, full of wonderful kids, and...well...no Internet and no cell service in our housing annex off of the theatre.
In Lake Placid, we stayed in housing that was built by the theatre for out-of-town actors and groups. It was very kind of them to let us stay there, and the housing was nice. The lack of internet and cell service was the worst part of it. I wasn't able to really update any of you all. Sorry about that.
This post will most likely be pictures. People only really look at the pictures anyway. Who reads this stuff? :)
This was taken in New London at the County Fair--which made me feel right at home.
Yes, this sign was referring to a cow.
County Fair! County Fair! Hometown feeling in the air!
Cute baby cow. Delicious baby cow.
Picture the audience naked...
Our beautiful theatre. It was awesome. Heavenly, even.
We were in the "What to do in Lake Placid" tour book for tourists! I wonder if any of them came to see the show...
After Lake Placid and New London, we headed to Mamaroneck, NY which was about 30 miles outside of New York City. Becca and I were in two separate homestays. I stayed in Purchase, NY and she stayed about three blocks away from the theatre.
My homestay family consisted of a Jewish grandmother from Arizona, her daughter and her "Catholic" Belgium husband and their daughter, Zoey.
Every morning, they made me breakfast. And they made me a lot of it.
See? That's a lot of breakfast.
Zoey, Ohma (Belgian for Grandma) and I played MouseTrap.
Since we were so close to the city, we of course decided to go.
It was incredible! We first got to see Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderlla. I thought it was going to be like the classic version, but it was not. It was new.
There was a lot of the same songs, but the script was entirely different. There was a nice stepsister, a political reform leader, enchanted forest monsters...totally different, but totally cool.
The most amazing part of Cinderella was the costume changes. It was literally magic. Check out the video below to get a taste. I mean, she basically spins in a circle and her dress is brand new. Awesome.
The Cinderella set. Wasn't supposed to take pictures. Oops.
After a wild week of wild kids, Becca and I had snagged tickets to see Matilda on Broadway.
Amazing. Magical. Inspiring. Cute. Hilarious. What more can I say?
Getting ready to see the show in the rain!
Since I was nice and let two people switch seats with me (because I am a giant and people can't see over my head), the usher allowed me to take two photos of the set.
Becca and I waiting to see the show! We're so stoked!
Basically, this past week was awesome. It was a lot of fun, and we made some amazing memories! I cannot wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for us!
So, apparently, there's a movie with Julia Roberts called Mystic Pizza that was filmed in areas in Mystic and roundabouts. Cool, I guess.
Mystic, CT is...breathtaking. It's on the Mystic River which connects to the ocean about 1 mile away from the home we are staying at. This town is incredible. I may just have to live here someday. Seriously.
Yes. That's Mystic Pizza--the place where the movie made the pizza famous.
Mystic River with riverside docks and hotels.
Now, the Garde Arts Center is where we will be performing our show this week, and it is...gorgeous. I took a few pictures with my iPhone today, but it didn't do it justice. So, I'm gonna bring my nice camera in tomorrow and snap a few shots. It's seriously one--if not--the most beautiful theatre I have been in.
Incredible view.
Small post, I know But I just wanted to share Mystic with you all.
For both Harvard and the Museum of Fine Arts, I opted not to take my large Canon 7D. Why? Because it's really heavy. To lug the camera, a water bottle, and my computer would have just been too much. So, all the following pictures were taken with my iPhone--which still does a pretty awesome job of helping tell the story.
This isn't in Harvard or the MFA. It's just a pretty picture of a chapel in Boston.
From 4-9:45pm on Wednesdays, the MFA is free. They suggest a donation for the entrance fee, but Becca and I decided to go in for free.
This is a painting. How is this possible?!
Contemporary art in the MFA. Stunning.
A neat little art piece which gives some instruction to patrons of the museum.
First off, the museum is gigantic. It has four floors, and each wing of the floor is themed. There was the European Art floor, Greek/Roman floor, Egyptian floor, Contemporary art wing, Samurai wing, and way more that we didn't have time to see.
Since it's our last day in Boston, we decided to check out Harvard University and Cambridge. Harvard is just like any other university campus--it's large and pretty. After about 20 minutes of walking around, it gets a little repetitive. That being said, it was gorgeous and reminded me a lot of the recent Pixar film, "Monsters University"...which is a terrific film by the way.
The Memorial hall.
Another shot of the same hall.
When passing by, I heard a tour guide say that it is tradition for Harvard students to go through this gate only twice. Once when they enter as a new student, and once again when their education has been completed.
Some people will not like this, but I have been so impressed at the high number of churches in the Boston/Cambridge area with Pride flags. It makes me happy that so many churches are welcoming to all.
The Fourth had come. Becca and I had heard from a nice couple the previous day that the Esplanade got extremely crowded with people. Like, over 500,000 people. They advised us to get there early to snag a good seat for the fireworks.
Sitting next to the Charles river.
So, Becca and I figured that 10:00 am would be a good time. When we got to the Esplanade, it was around 10:30, and there was maybe...15 people there. So, we staked out a nice shady spot by the river and got to sitting. It wasn't that bad...until the shade left us and we were left to bake underneath the hot New England sun for about 8 hours.
People. Watching fireworks, I guess.
When people did start to finally show up, it was about 6:00 pm. While we could have spent our day in the air conditioned luxury that is Starbucks, we realized that--although sunburned from head to toe--we had a better experience than all those people who were just coming in.
The Boston Pops Concert started at 7:30 with the talent of Howie Day...and others. Everyone was great. The highlight of the evening was the 1812 Overture, complete with church bells singing and cannons blaring. It was so inspirational to hear such a rousing number and to think that just months earlier Boston had suffered at the hands of terrorists. I felt very proud of Boston and our nation.
Yup. Fireworks in the sky.
The fireworks was a spectacle in itself. Synced to national hymns and tunes from Dreamwork's "How to Train Your Dragon", the display was stunning and phenomenal. But, still not better than Disney and the World of Color.
Seriously. It was beautiful.
All in all, it was a fantastic day. A day I hope I won't forget.
We have been graciously given a week off of our job to spend the 4th of July in Boston. We arrived here on Sunday night, and we've kinda been going non-stop since then.
On Sunday, we walked around to get our bearings on the city. It's pretty big, so we didn't get too far.
On Monday, we decided to do the Freedom Trail. After all, it's free and it takes you to massively important sites of American history. We stopped by the graveyard where Sam Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Mother Goose are buried. Yes, Mother Goose was real.
John Hancock's burial marker.
A statue dedicated to General Hooker.
Part of the rotunda of the new Boston state house.
The chamber for doing politician-y stuff.
In front of the plaque, there is a bronze donkey (not pictured). If your stand where I'm standing, the donkey is "bowing" to you, while you stand on the elephant. Pretty cool stuff.
Not sure what building that is, but it's pretty cool.
After the graveyard, we walked all downtown, stopped for lunch at The Green Dragon--otherwise known as the "headquarters of the revolution". Paul Revere and others would plan their moves at that little pub. It was really interesting to eat there.
The Green Dragon tavern. The "headquarters of the revolution".
That night, we did a Ghost Night Tour of Boston which took us to interesting places around downtown with unique stories. We even did a modern-day seance. We seemed to contact a spirit for about a minute or two. It was pretty neat.
A beautiful chapel in Little Italy.
We walked a lot on Monday. 13 miles to be exact. It was totally worth it.
At one end of the Freedom Trail, you're right next to the USS Constitution and a beautiful area to get a great picture of the Boston skyline.
Yesterday, we went to Salem. Ever since I did a paper on hysteria during the Salem Witch Trials when I was 13 years old, I have wanted to visit that infamous place. What's really sad, though, is that most buildings/artifacts from the 1692 witch trials were all destroyed in a massive fire in the late 1700s that burned nearly 3/4 of Salem down to the ground. Only one building remains that has a direct tie to the witch trials, and that's the house of Corwin, who was a judge during the trials.
The Corwin "Witch House".
Even though it doesn't have any of the old buildings from the 1600s, it still has a nice charm and a unique incense-driven energy. It was a nice town to be in.
The Salem "Friendly".
A real-life bookstore in Salem, MA. This is one of the most crazy places I have been. All books were 50-75% off, and they were literally covering almost every square inch of the shop. Floor to ceiling, just books everywhere.
Waiting for the train in Salem.
We topped off the night with the Salem Night Ghost Tour. It's by the same company who did the Boston Night Ghost Tour, but this one was incredibly awesome.
We learned that the Parker Brother's designed Clue and Monopoly off of buildings in Salem. We also learned that a murder inspired the brothers to create Clue. There was a man who lived in a large mansion, complete with a library, study, parlor, kitchen, etc. His daughter wanted all of his inheritance, so she decided to have him knocked off.
A man came into his room late at night, and using a dagger and a lead pipe, killed Mr. White in the bedroom. Really cool murder story.
All in all, Boston and Salem are treating us very well. We are tired and sunburned, but it's so worth it.
Becca and I. We're so happy! Salem and Boston are awesome!
